Part I
The Musician’s Experience and the
Scientific Perspective
When a brass player is asked to evaluate an unfamiliar instrument, the first step
is usually to explore the potential of the instrument by playing it. Arpeggios,
scales, crescendos and wide interval leaps are typical tests in which the musician
judges whether the instrument can meet the demands of professional performance.
An experienced player can usually recognise a poor instrument within a few
seconds, although a comparison of the qualities of two well-made instruments might
require several much longer playing sessions. The judgements of the performer
are subjective: although most players would probably agree in recognising a poor
instrument, it is not uncommon to find disagreements among musicians about the
relative merits of high-quality instruments.
A scientist approaching the task of evaluating a brass instrument will probably
start by trying to identify objectively measurable properties of the instrument. These
could include straightforward physical parameters such as length and weight or
more subtle features like the frequencies of the internal resonances of the instrument’s air column. The scientific perspective must also include an understanding of
the way in which the player interacts with the instrument in performance. To achieve
this, mathematical models have been devised which represent the behaviour of the
player’s vocal tract and lips.
This first part of the book consists of two short chapters which introduce and
review these two different but complementary perspectives. Chapter 1 outlines the
musician’s view of brass instrument behaviour, while Chap. 2 discusses the scientific
approach to the topic. The aim is to set the scene for the detailed acoustical model
of brass playing which is unfolded in Part II.
The Musician’s Experience and the
Scientific Perspective
When a brass player is asked to evaluate an unfamiliar instrument, the first step
is usually to explore the potential of the instrument by playing it. Arpeggios,
scales, crescendos and wide interval leaps are typical tests in which the musician
judges whether the instrument can meet the demands of professional performance.
An experienced player can usually recognise a poor instrument within a few
seconds, although a comparison of the qualities of two well-made instruments might
require several much longer playing sessions. The judgements of the performer
are subjective: although most players would probably agree in recognising a poor
instrument, it is not uncommon to find disagreements among musicians about the
relative merits of high-quality instruments.
A scientist approaching the task of evaluating a brass instrument will probably
start by trying to identify objectively measurable properties of the instrument. These
could include straightforward physical parameters such as length and weight or
more subtle features like the frequencies of the internal resonances of the instrument’s air column. The scientific perspective must also include an understanding of
the way in which the player interacts with the instrument in performance. To achieve
this, mathematical models have been devised which represent the behaviour of the
player’s vocal tract and lips.
This first part of the book consists of two short chapters which introduce and
review these two different but complementary perspectives. Chapter 1 outlines the
musician’s view of brass instrument behaviour, while Chap. 2 discusses the scientific
approach to the topic. The aim is to set the scene for the detailed acoustical model
of brass playing which is unfolded in Part II.